What is the context?
The Lord gives another visible sign. Ezekiel must eat his bread with trembling and drink his water with fear, portraying the experience of those living in Jerusalem and the land of Israel.
Even ordinary meals will be overshadowed by anxiety. The land will be stripped and inhabited cities laid waste because of the violence of their people.
The act brings the coming disaster into daily life. A meal, normally a moment of provision and rest, becomes a picture of the dread that will accompany judgment. Once again, the stated outcome is that the people will know the Lord.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Henry understands the trembling meal as a portrayal of Jerusalem’s fear during the siege. Wesley connects the land’s desolation with the injustice and oppression practiced among the people.
The sign therefore joins the people’s treatment of one another with the loss of ordinary security. Its message concerns the announced judgment on Jerusalem; it does not diagnose every experience of anxiety as punishment for wrongdoing.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.